Adventures in Madrigal
by Linda Cicada
Summary: Crescent, Althea, and Seir. These three 15 year olds attend Vagrant Academy together, studying to pass their First Class Exam. They hunt giants together and sell their materials so they can save up enough for their own guild house. One day when they were nearly eaten by a Giant Lawolf, a mysterious Knight appeared, and soon they find out dark things are happening in Madrigal.
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time there was five creators, full of different, infinite powers. These creators eventually got quite bored of it just being the five of them in the universe, so they decided to create a world, built up by parts of their own selves. Firstly, Herness decided that their world's inhabitants should require one main element to live, so she added water to the world. Second, Ipuli was creative enough to come up with the concept of breathing, so she added some of her wind to the world. Third, Shelid though that their world would need an endless cycle, so he added the land, plants, and come up with the concept of eating. Fourth, Raon added fire to keep their creatures warm and soothe their spirits. Finally, Ishirut added lightning, so that when their creatures, which they later named as Humanity, look up at the night sky, they are reminded that the creators are always watching and they are never alone.

With their creativity put together, they kept coming up with concept after concept, and eventually, their world was complete, and they decided to call it Roika. Their world came out perfect, just as they had envisioned it. The creators always watched over their world with a smile, but then the humans started to pray for the creators to give them friends other than themselves.

So they created the Drawpets: short, strange looking humanoid creatures with great intelligence and many secrets. The Drawpets and Humans lived happily together for centuries and together they manifested the rest of the world.

However, with everything so happy go lucky, the creators got bored of watching over Roika, so they prepared to leave. With tear-streaked faces, the humans and drawpets begged their creators to stay. Sadly, they refused, but they did realize they couldn't leave their world with no watcher, so they created the Goddess Rhisis. They shaped her in the form of a stunningly beautiful human girl with golden hair and brown eyes, and they clothed her in red, hooded robes. Then, trusting some of their knowledge with the Drawpets, and left Rhisis with the mission of watching over Roika for eternity.

Rhisis watched over Roika for thousands of years, just as she was told, but, being a powerful Goddess, she found it hard to get along with creatures so far beneath her. She had no friend, no one else in this world on her level of power to be her companion and occupy her mind. Then she came up with an idea. Why not create her own creatures? After all, she is a Goddess, surely she can create something of equal or close power to her so that she could have a friend.

Not only was she able to create one God, but she created three, all of which stemmed from her own emotions. First there was Bubble, who represented her happiness and love for the creators. Then there was Shade, who represented all her hate, sorrow, and shame of being abandoned by the creators. Finally, there was Iblis, who represented her apathy for the world of Roika. She decided to give these Gods the form of clowns, and call them the Three Clown Gods.

Acting just on what she represented, Shade took off on a mission to destroy Roika, as punishment to her creators for abandoning her. Using her all powerful magic, she severed a huge chuck of Roika and set it afloat in the sea. Then she used her mind magic to steal the knowledge the creators gave to the Drawpets, killing most of them off, leaving the species nearly extinct. Shade flew off, cackling, thinking her work here was done, expecting the humans to soon die off. But they worked together with the few remaining Drawpets to survive, rebuilt their land, and continued to live on. This chunk of land soon became known as Madrigal.

Shade's anger only made her even more angry. This time, she created a whole army of creatures known as Masquerpet, and sent them off to destroy Madrigal and all it's inhabitants.

Bubble heard the cries of the people, and knew Shade had to be stopped at all costs. He tried to convince Iblis the same, but he didn't care at all about what happens to this world, so Bubble confronted Shade himself. The two God's had a battle of epic proportions. Their battle got so intense that it split Madrigal into three continents, scattering Masquerpets all over the world of Roika.

While the God's battled, the humans also fought against the Masquerpets in an all out war. As the war raged on, humanity lost hope and began to give up, running in fear from Shade's ultimate Masquerpet, Clockworks. Eight brave heroes refused to give in, and sacrificed their lives to cage the titanic, mechanical arachnid.

Shade, acting in the fearful side of her, fled from Bubble, so he and the inhabitants of Madrigal won the war. More and more generations have passed, and humanity has grown strong once more. But peace has never been fully restored, as Shade's Masquerpets are still spread all over the world. But today's generation knows the legend of the eight heroes, and along with knowing that they are from safe and that Shade can return at any time, they prepare themselves for the worst.

"...And that concludes chapter three. Are there any questions?" the teacher asks, closing the book he's holding in the palm of his hand. He faces his class of teenage Vagrants all dressed in the same black uniforms. The hand of a magenta haired female student quickly shoots up. "You have a question? What?" the teacher asks with a raised eyebrow, and all eyes in the classroom turn to her.

"Yes!" she exclaims, jumping to her feet. "How long do you plan to talk us to death about boring crap no one cares about?"

The classroom suddenly feels awkwardly silent, with the only sound that can be heard being some of the classmates trying to hold in their laughter. Others, especially the white haired girl sitting next to hair, stare at her like she's a damned fool.

"Excuse me? Your history is something that all you little Vagrants should be eager to learn." replies the teacher, glaring at her with an expression that would make any student sit right back down and shut their lips. Any student except sixteen year old Althea, that is.

"But I'm not here to learn history, I'm here to become a Mercenary! All you do is repeat stories we already know from our childhood! This class is pointless!"she argues back.

"Oh you think you're already so well educated, do you? Your test scores certainly aren't showing it. What was the score you got on your continents test? 37%." The teacher says, walking towards Althea's desk with his arms folded behind his back.

Althea's face flushes red at the mention of her test score. She can hear a couple of the students behind her whispering about how they got a 100% on that easy test. "T-That's only because your multiple choice tests are dumb! There's always more than one correct answer, you can't blame me if the correct answer I choose isn't the one you wanted!"

The teacher chuckles. "Okay, in that case I have a pop quiz for you, 'Misses Know it All'. Why do we call the northern rivers here in Flaris the Rivers of Weeping?"

Althea flinches and takes a step back at his question. "U-Uh...that's not fair, I'm pretty sure we haven't gotten that far yet..." She says, scratching the back of her head.

"WRONG! Hundreds of years ago, a Drawpet told us one of the secrets the Creators gave his people. According to him, before humanity was created, there were beings known as the Caoins. Caoin means to weep, and they resided right by the rivers, which is why we call them the Rivers of Weeping! There aren't many tales of the Caoin's because only the Drawpets know of them. If you had been paying attention, you would have heard this in my lecture today!" The teacher scolds her furiously in his booming voice.

"W-What the heck does the name of a river have to do with becoming a Class?"

"With that attitude of yours, you will be a Vagrant forever. Now be silent and return to your seat!" He walks back over to the front of the classroom, opens his book, and continues reading to them from chapter four.

Althea slumps back to her seat, crossing her legs and resting her head on her fist, staring out the window. "This is so stupid." she whispers with a yawn, completely ignoring the lecture.

"Come on Althea, if we can do this, you can too. It's actually really interesting when you think about it." says the girl with shoulder length white hair, sitting next to her.

"Maybe to someone like you, but even you have to admit that this shit has absolutely nothing to do with us becoming a Class. How is knowing any of this going to help you achieve your goal of becoming a Psykeeper?" replies Althea.

"Well I suppose it doesn't. But even still, knowing your history is knowing who you are. You'll never know when you might need to know this type of stuff. Plus, it gives me so much more to draw. I can't wait to show you my sketch of Clockworks." She says with a smile, pushing her glasses up.

The teacher suddenly stops talking, and turns his gaze to the two girls. "HEY, Crescent!" He shouts, and she quickly stands. What the hell are you doing talking in class?!"

"S-Sorry, sir..." she replies, hanging her head in shame.

"You're my top student, it isn't like you to do something so ignorant! Talk in class one more time, and I'll move you from my star student right down to the shit list!"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir..." Crescent says, sitting back down in embarrassment. The teacher then goes on with his lecture as if nothing happened.

Althea manages to endure the lecture until class is out, then moves onto her next classes for three more hours, until school is finally out for the day. "Ah, what a long day!" she says as she shuts her locker and puts her backpack on.

"We're only in school for seven hours a day, it's not that bad." says Crescent, as they walk outside together.

"Cress, I swear, you're such a nerd. No sane person can actually enjoy the subjects that don't relate to the Classes."

"Knowledge is power. Come on, there's only two weeks left until we can take the Class test! You can hang in there until then." Crescent encourages, patting her friend on the back.

"Yo! Wait for me!" a male voice calls out to them. They turn around and see a boy with pale skin and black hair that covers his right eye. When he catches up with them, he rests his hands on his knees, panting.

"I thought I told you two to wait for me at the lockers from now on? You know my last hour class is all the way up at the third floor!" he complains.

"Hey, it's not like we left you or anything. You know we wouldn't do that!" replies Althea.

"Yes you would! You've done it several times this month already!"

"Poor Seir." says Crescent, petting his head.

Seir rubs his stomach as it starts to growl. "Man, I'm starved! Let's go get some grub!"

Althea licks her lips at the thought of food. "You said it! All this learning has got me hungry like a wolf!"

Crescent nods. "Yes. While we sit down and eat I can show you two my latest drawings. The foods all on Althea, though."

Althea staggers back in shock. "WHAT?! Who told you to go and make a decision like that?!"

"You were a complete, total idiot in history class today! Have you forgotten rule #3 already? Anyone who goes full retard must buy food for everyone! How do you get 37% on a test anyway?" exclaims Seir.

"Because the test was pointless! I do great in every subject that actually relates to the Classes! I'm sure you didn't do so much better anyway!"

Seir rolls his eyes at her. "I got a 95%! That test was freaking easy! Next time, don't try to talk smart to the teacher if you're failing his class!"

The two of them continue to bicker at each other for several minutes until they both run out of stuff to say. In the end, Althea agrees to pay this once, and the three of them walk outside together


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Althea, Seir, and Crescent walk through the town of Flarine together. Small, rural style buildings and a plethora of trees make up the town, along with the mysteriously floating pieces of land and airships in the sky. After they cross the bridge from Northern Flarine to Central Flarine, they stop at the magic fountain in the middle of the town. Althea takes her water bottle out of her backpack and fills it up in the fountain, gulping it down. Seir splashes his face, then takes a handful of water and sips it, only to spit it right back in the fountain.

"That stuff is just as hot as it is out here! I will never understand how you can drink this stuff every day." He says, dramatically scraping his tongue with his fingernails.

"Free stuff is free stuff. Can't complain about the quality of water when you're homeless. I drink water to stay hydrated and keep on living, not for the taste." Althea says, then gulps down the rest of the water, filling the bottle right back up when she finishes.

"Well, that makes sense. I'm glad I'm not in your shoes." Seir says, leaning against the fountain with his arms crossed.

"Don't fall for her trap, Seir. She's trying to play you into feeling sorry for enough to get her off the hook for her stupidity today. Nice try Althea, but you're still paying." Crescent says.

Althea doubles over and starts coughing, as if someone hit her in the gut. "Ouch...it doesn't feel good being hit by a bus...How are you going to just throw me under like that?!" she complains, clutching onto her stomach.

"Whoa, what?! You tried to play me?! Not cool! Just for that, desserts on you too!" Seir exclaims with a balled fist.

"No, there's no way I'm doing that! You know I've been saving up for a new sword! Besides, there's no written rule that says anything like that!"

"Yes there is." Crescent says, taking a small notepad out of her backpack and shoving it at Althea. "Rule #4: Anyone who tries to cheat their way out of paying after going full retard is required to pay for something extra as well."

"Y-You can't be serious...this is seriously a written rule?" Althea says as she reads it for herself.

"You would've known that if you would actually read our group rule book. Knowledge is power." Crescent says, sternly.

"But reading is so lame! You and Seir can handle it because you're going to be Classes that require book smarts!"

"Poor Althea." Crescent pets Althea's head. "Don't worry, you won't be spending anymore than 800 Penya at most. You can make that back in just a few days of our giant hunting."

Althea continues complaining and trying to protest her way out of it, but Crescent grabs her by the back of her shirt and drags her along. They stop at East Flarine, in front of a colorful building titled "Laleen Food Court." Inside, the dry heat of the summer seems to disappear in an instant as they are relieved by the air conditioning. Seir and Crescent take their seats while Althea waits in the long line to place their orders. When she comes over to the table with their food, she notices that Crescent already started showing Seir her drawings.

"Hey if you were going to make me pay, couldn't you have at least waited on me?" she says as she sits the bag containing their food down on the table.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Althea. I just got a little excited...I feel like my drawing skills have gotten even better." Crescent apologizes.

Seir closes his eyes, inhaling deeply, taking in the mouthwatering scent coming from the bag. "Time to dig in!" He says after exhaling, digging into the bag to take out his foot long chili cheese dog and tater tots. Althea takes out her extra spicy chicken burrito, then hands Crescent the cup noodles she requested. Seir and Althea quickly take huge bites out of their food, splattering sauce on the table, so Crescent puts her notebook back in her backpack while they eat.

"So." Althea says while chewing. "What's the plan for today? Kick a Giant Bang's ass?"

Crescent chuckles. "The Giant Bang? We can barely handle the Giant Demian!" She says, trying to hold back her laughter. "Seriously, we need to stick within our boundaries."

"Ugh, but there are so many weaponsmiths that would pay good for the Bang's hammers and blades! We would be making so much more money if we could kill it!"

"We're doing alright for beginners though, Althea." Crescent says, placing her hand on her friends shoulder. "We've been making a good amount of money selling the daggers and knives from the PukePuke and Demian, haven't we?"

"Studying might be more important than giant hunting right now anyway. The graduation test is just two weeks away. If you blow it, you'll have to wait until next year to become a Class." says Seir, licking his fingers after finishing his food.

Althea stares at him blankly with her head cocked to the side, blinking at him. "Are you being serious right now? Studying more important than money?"

"Hey, if you don't mind getting a 37% on the test and staying a Vagrant, that's on you. Just keep in mind that you will no longer be of any use to the cas Giant Hunting Guild if that's the case."

Althea rolls her eyes. "Oh, don't get all high and mighty with me like that! The Guild isn't even official yet. Without me, it wouldn't even be CAS – Crescent, Althea, Seir. It'd just be a lame CS! And the minimum number of people a guild can have is three."

"So you've got all your facts straight here, but not in the classroom?" Seir says, scratching his chin.

"I'm always smart when it comes to relevant things like Guilds. That's why I know for sure I'm going to ace the Mercenary test. There's not going to be anything irrelevant about it!" Althea replies, confidently.

Once they all finish their food, Crescent takes her notebook out again, flipping through the pages until she reaches four of her drawings and takes them out, sliding them towards her friends. Her phone then unexpectedly starts ringing. When she sees who's calling, her smile slowly disappears and she bites her lip. "I'll be right back. Tell me what you think when I come back." she says, getting up and walking to the bathroom.

"That was a little odd, don't you think? Why'd she have to go to the bathroom to answer her phone?" asks Althea.

"Dunno, maybe she's got a secret boyfriend or something?" suggests Seir, picking meat from between his teeth with his fingernails.

"Pfft, Crescent? A secret boyfriend? No she doesn't! You're the only guy I've ever seen her talk too. Unless YOU'RE her secret boyfriend?!"

"Don't be dumb, there aint a chance in hell anything like that's going on between me and her. Just keep your trap shut and check out her art before you say something else ridiculous." Seir replies, picking up one of the pictures.

The first one is a very detailed sketch of a woman's face with eyes that have no color, and long, flowy blue hair. It looked as if she was a transparent spirit made entirely out of water, with the reflection of the moon shown through her. On the top right corner of the paper read 'Herness' in perfect hand writing.

The second one is another woman's face, facing to the left, with long green hair that blew to the side as if it itself was the wind. Like Herness, her eyes lack pupils, and on the top right of the paper is wrote 'Ipuli'.

Third is a full body, very colorful picture of a man standing in the forest, with closed eyes and his hand placed on the bark of a tree, smiling. He seems to be wearing some type of armor made from plants and leaves up to his waist, stopping right under his ripped abs. Rabbits and squirrels surround him, some seated on his shoulder, while others nuzzle on his legs. "Shelid" it reads on the top right corner, like the previous two.

Fourth is another full body picture of a bald man kneeling on one knee, reaching his right hand out in the air. Above his hand is the sun, as if he's holding it in his palm, and he's wearing a very long, flaming cloak that seems to be fire itself. It's so long that it stretches all the way to the floor and rolls out several feet. "Raon."

"Damn these are good. Surprised she drew something like the five Creators instead of demons for once." comments Seir.

"There is no way someone with this much talent shouldn't be making any money off their work!" exclaims Althea as she sorts through them. "But isn't there supposed to be five? This is only four."

Seir looks through them again and scratches his chin he realizes she's right. "Maybe she just forgot to take it out? I don't see why she would draw four and not the fifth."

After several minutes, Crescent comes out of the bathroom. She no longer has her glasses on, showing her sky blue eyes more clearly. Her friends notice that her eyes look red and puffy while there's a single tear on her cheek, as if she's been crying. She flicks it away, then sits back in her seat. "Sorry for taking so long. What did you guys think, have I gotten any better?" she asks, as if nothing happened.

Seir and Althea stare at her in awkward silence for a short moment, not sure what to say to her. "Oh dear...they were terrible, weren't they?" Crescent says with a gasp, then quickly grabs the drawings and puts them back in her notebook.

"What? No, your art is amazing! It's like you're a professional or something! I was just wondering why you took your glasses off, that's all." responds Althea.

"Oh, my glasses? I won't be needing them any more today, so I put my contacts in instead." Crescent says with a fake smile. "Don't want another pair to break..." she whispers under her breath

"Another pair to break? What are you talking about, Crescent? Are you okay? Who were you on the phone with?" asks Seir, slamming his palms on the table and rising to his feet.

Crescent flinches at her friends reaction. "Why are you guys interrogating me? My parents told me I left one of my drawings at home, that's all."

"Oh, that explains why there's only four." says Althea.

"Yeah, sorry guys...I was really looking forward to showing you all five. How could I be silly enough to forget one...?" Crescent says, hanging her head with a sniffle.

Seir let's out a deep sigh of relief. "Ah gee, THAT's why you were crying? You really had me worried for a second there."

Althea stretches her arms out and smiles. "Well with that out of the way, is everybody ready to kick some Giant masquerpet ass?"

"What? Didn't I already say we need to be studying? Are you trying to be the brick that drags us down?!" Seir asks, furiously.

"You can't take a break from making money! Our income has to keep flowing in and increasing every single day! Besides, Crescent is the leader, so it's ultimately her decision, not yours."

Both of them then turn their eyes to Crescent, expectantly. A bead of sweat trickles down her forehead with her friends expecting a verdict from her. "U-Uhm, well, you're both right. We need to keep our money flowing in every day if we want to afford our Guild House, but we also need to make sure we're ready to ace our tests. So, basically, we need to decide how to fit both studying and hunting giants in our schedule for the next two weeks."

"True, true. Being a BillPoster is all about balance between intelligence and physical strength after all. Guess I got a little too focused on the intelligence part. But how are we going to manage this? It'll be quite a tight schedule." Seir says.

"Okay, then how about everyday after school, we hunt the giants, then on the weekends, we get together to study?" suggests Althea.

Crescent shakes her head. "No, that's not an even balance. You put five days on fighting and only two on studying. We need same amount of time on both."

"Everyday after school, we spend the day hunting giants and trying to sell what we take from them, then we crash at Crescent's place to study at night?" suggests Seir.

"That sounds fine and dandy, but it's studying every freaking night! I say HELL NO to that!" exclaims Althea.

They continue to argue over how they should manage their time, and get so caught up in it that they don't even notice when a short girl with brown hair in pig tails, wearing a lavender dress with a heart on the chest comes over to their table. "Uhm, excuse me..." she says.

After several minutes, Crescent looks up and notices her. "Oh, sorry! You're the waitress, right? You can go ahead and take this stuff, we're finished." she apologizes, sliding their dishes and trash to her.

"I hate to enter butt into your business, but were you guys just talking about fighting giants?" the waitress asks while taking their dishes and trash.

Seir and Althea now notice her as well. "Yeah, we go around beating the stuffing out of giants and selling what we can take from them. Why do you ask?" asks Althea.

"That's perfect!" the waitress exclaims. "You see, my big sister Losha, she's the owner of this food court. One day when she was little, she got lost in the middle of the Leren Mountains, where she found a cute little puppy named Yorn. When our parents found her, they let her keep the puppy."

"That's a cute story and all, but what does it have to do with us fighting giants?" asks Althea, interrupting the waitress's story.

"Yorn suddenly disappeared a few weeks ago and Losha has been looking all over for him. She's so depressed...she won't eat, drink, or sleep until she finds Yorn. She's really falling apart. What's worse is, she hasn't been home the past few days. I think she went searching for him in the Leren Mountains, where she found him. I'm so worried...she must have gotten lost, and the mountains are guarded by the Giant Lawolf and it's pack!"

"Oh I get it, you want us to take out the Giant and find your sister and her dog? Sounds like quite the adventure." says Seir.

"Yes! Please, I beg of you! I'll pay you however much you want!" the waitress pleads, grabbing Seir's hands and looking into his eyes with a terrified expression.

"HECK YES!" exclaims Althea, jumping to her feet. "Come on gang, we've got ourselves some over sized masquerpet ass to kick!" she says, and darts outside.

Crescent sighs. "That girl...she could have at least changed out of her school uniform before deciding to be a reckless idiot." she shakes her hand and stands up. "Don't worry, we will find your sister and her dog and bring them both back safely. Come on Seir, cas has a mission to complete."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Seir and Crescent catch up with Althea right outside of Eastern Flarine. Outside of town, the ground is full of short grass, and there are many rather tall trees in sight. They can hardly see up ahead due to all the masquerpets in their way. Tiny little blue creatures with one eye for a head, a pair of wings, and a short tail, known as Aibatt are the main thing they can see. Aibatt may be the weakest and most gentle of all Masquerpet, but the huge flock of them in their way leaves the trio with no choice but to take some of them down with their tiny little swords.  
Next they make their way past the Mushpangs, small two legged creatures with a red mushroom on top of their heads. They completely ignore the giant blue Mushpang even though they would normally slice down any giant in their sight that they know they can handle.

Once they reach the base of the Leren Mountains they have to make their way past the Pukepuke's. These ugly, humanoid little blue skinned creatures wore boots much too large for their feet, hats that seemed to be to protect their eyes from the sun, and jumpsuits. The knives they use as weapons sell for a cheap price to weaponsmiths, but the gain is too low to be worth it, unless it's from the Giant. These Pukepuke are much more dangerous than the weak Masquerpet they already passed, and tend to be far more aggressive as well.

After they make their way past the Pukepukes, they can hear howling up ahead. This can only mean that the Lawolf pack isn't far away. They've never faced a Lawolf before, in fact it's said that Vagrants should not adventure too deep in the mountains unless they want to be Lawolf food. They climb up a high spot of the mountain where Lawolf aren't said to roam, and get a bird's eye view. Rather large creatures that look a lot like wolves can be seen below. Their only significant difference in their appearance from that of an actual wolf seems to be the skull tattoo on their shoulders. At the very end of the mountain the Giant, about four times as big as the rest, can be seen, with the rest of the pack following behind.

"Do you think Losha and Yorn are down there?" asks Seir.

"They must be...oh! Look!" Crescent exclaims, getting a closer look at the Giant's face. She can now see that it's carrying a girl by the back of her shirt by it's razor sharp teeth. This girl looks almost exactly like the waitress from the food court, so they quickly come to the conclusion that she's Losha.

"They're gonna eat her! We've gotta do something now!" Althea says, then jumps down from their hiding spot. "HEY YOU FILTHY MUTTS, OVER HERE!" She shouts, causing the whole pack to turn around and stare at her. The giant drops Loyah and let's out a howl that could probably be heard all the way back in town, signaling the pack to attack.

"Uh oh..." Althea says, slowly backing up, then starts running as fast as her legs can take her.

Once the pack is busy with her, Seir and Crescent jump down and run over to Loyah. Up close they can see that her skin is covered in cuts and bruises, and her clothes are tattered. Crescent gives her a gentle shake, causing her eyes to slowly open up.

"Y-Yorn..." she whispers, still not fully conscious.

"You think Althea will be okay?" Seir asks.

"She should be, it'll be good Knight training for her. It is a Knight's job to distract the enemy from the rest of the group." replies Crescent. "You go find Yorn, and I'll..." Her sentence is cut off by Althea yelling "HELP!" and running back in their direction, with the whole pack close behind her. "Okay...scratch that, looks like our only option is to fight."

"It's only five normal Lawolves, and one Giant. If we take out the rest of the pack, we can just escape from the big guy, right?" asks Seir.

"Won't be easy, but better than nothing."

It doesn't take long for the whole pack to have the three friends surrounded. For every step the pack takes closer, they take another step back, until they are standing back to back with Losha behind them. The glance at each and nod, then charge at the Lawolves in different directions. Two of them pounce at Althea, but she slides under them and jabs one in the groin with her blade while it's above her. The other one tries to bite her, but she blocks with her shield and follows up by stabbing it in the eye. Regardless of the blood pouring out of it's injured eye, the Lawolf continues biting down on her shield until it breaks it in half. Through the corner of her eye she sees the first one get back up and charge at her, but she kicks it in the chin then stabs one of it's eyes out as well.

While Althea is busy with her two Lawolves, Seir is holding his own against two as well. He consistently blocks each of their attacks, following up by stabbing them in the shin. His plan is to cripple their movement to give him the upper edge, which seems to be working perfectly until one of them bites his sword and spits it out several feet away.

"I don't need a sword to fight, I got two more weapons right here!" He shouts, balling his fists and taking a fighting stance. When both of the Lawolves try to pounce on him, he socks one in the jaw, and delivers an uppercut to the other, then another uppercut to it's gut. He smirks at the fallen Masquerpet's, but one gets right back up, and next thing he knows, he feels fangs piercing through his leg. "Shit!" He says, louder than intended.

Crescent hears his scream and naturally looks over in his direction, but as result, the giant Lawolf knocks her down with it's massive paw. It hit her with such strength that she fell several feet back and crashed against the bark of a tree. Unlike her Seir and Althea who had been fighting just two normal Lawolves, Crescent has one along with the Giant. Her plan is to keep them busy until her friends take out the two that they are fighting, then they'll damage the Giant enough until it's too weak to chase after them. Normally keeping the enemies busy is Althea's job, but these Lawolf messed that part up by the Giant going after Crescent instead of Althea, as if they can tell who the leader is.

When Althea and Seir see the Giant and the other two Lawolves closing in on Seir, they disregard their plan, rushing over to their friend. Seir throws himself at the Giant, and although he barely moves it an inch, he successfully gets it's attention off of Crescent. Althea helps Crescent back to her feet, and together they manage to gouge out the eyes of two of them, then stab them in the throats enough times to finish them off. They see Seir struggling to get back up, with the Giant towering over him, so they quickly attempt to run to his aide, but the other three Lawolf block their way. The Giant howls, then starts leaning down, with it's mouth open above Seir.

"Seir, run!" Crescent shouts, while her and Althea try to take out the three in their way.

The injury in his leg prevents Seir from getting out of the way, but right when it's about to devour him, a bark can be heard from behind, and the Giant turns around. Hanging from the Giant's tail is a dog with black and white fur, biting down on it's tail as hard as it can. The Giant swings it's tail around wildly until it sends the dog flying off. The dog falls right next to Losha, who then opens her eyes.

"Yorn...!" She exclaims, weakly, at the sight of him. He licks her face then barks at the Giant, which is now making it's way over to them.

"Damn...this is bad. We can't stop it!" Crescent says, as her and Althea struggle against the other three Lawolf, while Seir still struggles to get back to his feet.

"We've got too!" replies Althea. She breaks away from the three Lawolf and rushes over to the Giant, but halfway there, one of the three leaps at her and sinks it's teeth into her shoulder.  
"Get...off!" She shouts, stabbing it over and over until it has no choice but to release her. The pain causes her to fall to her knees while running, leaving her unable to reach the Giant in time to protect Yorn and Losha, so she throws her sword at it in a last ditch effort.

The Giant freezes in place, then it's entire body splits in half and falls to the sides, blood pouring out everywhere. Standing where the Giant stood before is a tall in shining armor, wearing a black cloak with the hood covering his face. In both hands he wields a massive sword more than half his height. Quickly, he zooms over to the remaining three Lawolf and slices them apart in one swift strike. Althea stares at him in awe as he kneels and helps her to her feet.

"Y-You're a..."  
He presses his finger on her lip to silence her and places four tiny blue and purple feathers in her hand, then whispers something under his breath. At the command of his voice, a guitar descends from the sky, which he hops on and flies away. Crescent lets Seir lean on her shoulder to stand and they walk over to Yorn and Losha.

"Hey, you okay?" Crescent asks.

Losha nods. "You guys...you came all the way here to save me, didn't you?"

"Yeah, your sister is worried sick about y-...Ah, shit!" Althea exclaims, clutching onto her shoulder. She just now notices how much blood her shirt is stained with.

"Oh no! We have to get you guys to the doctor!" Losha exclaims at the sight of how jacked up they are.

"I don't think we're in any shape to hike back down this mountain..." Seir says.

"Don't worry, that guy gave me enough Blinkwings to town for all of us." Althea hands one of the feathers to each of them.

When everyone's ready, strange red light begins to stem up from the feathers, dancing around their bodies. The light steadily increases to the point where it's so bright they have to shut their eyes. When they can no longer feel the light around them, they open their eyes and see that they are back in Eastern Flarine.

The first thing Yorn does is dart into the Laleen Food Court, and just a few short moments later, he's racing back outside with Loyah, whom embraces her older sister in a tight hug.

"Losha! Oh my god, I'm so glad you're back!" She says, crying into Losha's shoulder.

Losha smiles and rubs her little sister's back. "I'm so sorry, Loyah, you must have been so worried." Yorn licks both of their faces and Loyah giggles. "It's good to have you back too, Yorn."

Yorn turns to Seir, Crescent, and Althea, panting happily, and Loyah takes a small pouch out of her pocket then hands it to Crescent. "Thank you guys so much! If it weren't for you, I might not have ever seen Losha again!" She gasps when she realizes how beat up and injured the three of them are. "Oh my! Please, let me escort you to the doctor!" 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After getting healed up by the RingMaster's at the clinic, Althea, Seir, and Crescent say their goodbyes to Losha, Loyah, and Yorn. Losha promised them they can come to her food court for free lunch everyday, much to their delight. After counting the money in the pouch that Loyah gave to Crescent, they see that she gave them $5000 Penya. This is more than enough for them to replace their destroyed and lost swords and shields with even better ones and still have over $4000 left to deposit in the bank account they use to save up for their Guild House. As they walk through town deciding how they should spend the rest of the day, the clock tower suddenly sounds off. They look up and Crescent gasps when she sees that it's already 6:00 P.M.

"Crap...! Uh, I gotta go home now, sorry guys." She says.

"Huh? Already? But it's still two more hours until eight!" complains Althea.

"Sorry, I-I just have something really important to take care of with my parents tonight. Althea, you'll have to stay at Seir's place tonight."

Seir's jaw drops in shock at her statement. "What?! Why does she have to stay with me? She's been staying with you every night for four years!"

"I don't mind staying with Seir, but are you okay, Cress? You seemed a little...different after school today, and now this. You know you can tell us if anything's wrong right?" says Althea.

Crescent nods. "Yes. Don't worry, I'm fine. Goodnight." She says with a polite bow, then walks off. Seir and Althea watch her walk for a while, then she starts running, and before long she's out of sight.

Seir sighs. "Guess we may as well head to my place now. But just a fair warning, I'm going to be studying all night, and so will you."

Althea rolls her eyes. "Great...this is gonna be the best sleepover ever."

While they walk to Seir's house, he calls his dad on the phone to let him now he's having a guest over for the night. When they walk through the door Seir shouts 'Dad, I'm home!' and just a short moment later, his dad comes down the stairs.

"Oh ho, you didn't tell me you were bringing a GIRL over!" He says with a cheeky smile.

Seir's blushes softly at his dad's comment. "Don't get any sick ideas, we're just study partners, right Althea?"

"Study partners, and battle partners." replies Althea.

His dad chuckles. "Battle partners, eh? In that case, you must've been with him when he fought those Lawolves earlier? I got a call from the doctor saying you were badly wounded from fighting Lawolves, Seir."

"Yeah, we had Cress with us too." Althea says too. "We kicked some serious ass together!"

Seir's dad pats him on the back, but Seir flinches and takes a step back. "That's my boy! Fighting together with two pretty girls his age, and inviting one over for the night! Maybe you don't need all your little 'fake friends' anymore, eh? I think we could make quite a good amount off of them with a garage sell."

"Little fake friends?" asks Althea, confused.

He chuckles again. "Hasn't told you, has he? Well, we don't have a guest room, so you'll be seeing them for yourself." He continues laughing while Seir just stares at the floor with his hands in his pockets. "Guess I'll leave you kids alone now. I'll order some pizza, if you need anything let me know." He says, then goes back upstairs.

"Sorry about my old weirdo, he's quite a handful as you just saw." Seir says.

"What did he mean by fake little friends?"

Seir sighs. "Guess there's no point in trying to hide it. Come on, I'll show you my room." He says, then leads her up the stairs.

He stops in front of a door with a sign on it that says 'The Zoo' and another one under it which says 'CLOSED!'. "If you laugh or judge me even once, we study for another hour, got it?"

"Uh...that's kinda harsh, but if those are your rules..." Althea says, confused.

Seir takes in a deep breath, then after a short pause, swings his door open. "I'm home everyone!" He exclaims, turning the light on.

Inside, the room is very nice and tidy. The bed is perfectly made, all his clothes are hung up properly, and his books that aren't in his bag are stacked neatly on his desk. The only thing that stands out is all the bookshelves. Rather than being filled with books, they are filled with stuffed animals. After setting his book bag down, Seir pulls his blanket up, revealing two more stuffed animals underneath. A lion and a rather large husky with green fur.

"Emerald, Monticore, meet Althea. She's staying for the night." He says, petting their heads.

"Oh, so this is what he meant by little friends!" Althea exclaims, with a big smile spread across her face.

"Why are you staring and smiling like that? You think this is weird don't you?" Seir asks, not meeting her eyes.

"What? No, no! I actually think it's kinda cute! Can I hold one?"

Seir seems surprised at her question. "Huh? Uh, yeah sure." He says, handing her the lion named Monticore.

She runs her hands through it's mane. "Wow, his mane is so neatly combed and soft! It's like he has a perm."

A slight smile spreads across Seir's face as he watches her rub his soft fur on her face. She eventually hands Monticore back to Seir, then takes her backpack off and attempts to sit on her bed, but Seir quickly stops her.

"Whoa, whoa! What do you think you're doing?"

"S-Sitting down?"

Seir shakes his head. "There is no way in hell you're sitting down in my room in those filthy clothes! We've been all the way up in the Leren Mountains for crying out loud!"

"What am I supposed to do then? I can't study standing up, I'm not a horse!" She says, hands on her hips.

"How about you take a shower and change into some clean clothes?"

"No can do. I didn't bring anything else to wear."

Seir stares at her as if he thinks she just made a bad attempt at a joke, but knowing her, he assumes she's being serious. "So you're telling me you planned to sleep here in THAT?" She nods, and he sighs, shaking his head. "Not happening. You'll just have to wear something of mine. Anything is better than this." He says, then starts searching through his drawer for something that might fit her.

"Seir, you are such a clean freak. I always sleep in whatever I wore for the day you know." Althea says.

"You're seriously going to have bugs all over you in your sleep one day." Seir replies.

"Been there, done that. I used to have to sleep with bed bugs, remember?"

"I did not need to be reminded of that!"

After a few minutes of searching, Seir hands her a white T-shirt and a pair of black sweat pants. Both are clearly too small for him, but whether Althea could fit them is not certain.

"What, no underwear?" She asks.

Seir opens his drawer again then tosses a pair of boxers at her face.

"I-I was joking!" She throws them back at him.

"Too bad. You reap what you sow." Seir replies, tossing them right back at her face again.

"I bet your dad will be really proud when he hears his son got a girl to wear what covers his nether regions." She says with a mischievous smile, patting him on the back. He grits his teeth and tries to swat her hand away, but she skips away to the bathroom, giggling.

While she's taking her shower, Seir gets a change of clothes for himself and takes a shower in the downstairs bathroom. When he returns to his room, he finds Althea sitting on his bed, stroking Monticore's mane. He nearly jumps in shock at the sight of her dirty clothes on the floor.

"That's disgusting!" He exclaims, kicking them out to the hallway.

"Hey, I didn't know what to do with them! Why don't you wash them for me?"

Seir stares at her, agitated. "You're crazy if you think I'm gonna-"

"But they need to be washed, and I don't know where the washing machine is. Come on, do me this little favor?"

"Fine...God, I swear I'm gonna have to bleach my hands after this." He says, scooping her clothes up off the floor. Just then, his dad comes up the stairs, carrying two boxes of pizza.

"Pizza's he-!" He exclaims, but stops when he sees his son holding up and staring at Althea's dirty panties. "Oh ho! My son is growing up so fast!" He says with a cheeky smile, patting Seir on the back.

"Y-you've got the wrong idea! I'm just gonna wash her clothes, dammit!" Seir exclaims, blushing bright red, then pushes past him and runs down the stairs.

When he comes back up, he sees his dad and Althea both sitting on his bed, laughing so hard that he figures they must be talking about him.

"Dad, what the hell are you still doing in here?! Get out, I never said you could talk to my friend!"

"Oh boo hoo. Don't be such a stick in the mud, LeeLee!" His dad says, still laughing.

Seir's face flushes bright red again. "Don't call me that..."

"Aww, guess you'll only let her call you that, eh?" His did chuckles.

Seir blinks in surprise, then glares at Althea. "What? She's NEVER called me that! What type of stupid lies did you tell him?!" He demands.

"Gee, no need to get so worked up, Seir. We were just having some harmless fun." replies Althea.

"Yeah, harmless fun!" His dad says in agreement.

"Just get out dad, we need to start studying! Don't you know we have our graduation exam in just two weeks?"

His dad stands up. "Fine, fine, I'll leave you two alone for the rest of the night." As he walks out he slips something into Seir's hand. Condoms. Seir feels his face flush an even darker shade of red, then tries to throw them back at his dad, but he shut the door behind him just in time. "I TOLD YOU, WE'RE JUST STUDY PARTNERS!" Seir shouts, but from the other side he can hear his dad laughing his ass off while walking away.

"What did he give you?" Althea asks, curiously. She gets up and makes her way over to the door where he threw them, but he quickly picks them up and puts them in his pocket before she can see.

"Nothing! Don't worry about! Take out your history book, that's what we're studying first!" He exclaims.

"History?! Of all things? Why must you be so cruel, Seir!" She complains.

"It's not my fault this is your worst subject. The more you whine, the more we'll study, got that?"

Althea sighs but doesn't argue, figuring the quicker she gets this done and over with, the better. They study the history of Madrigal together for half an hour until Althea gets bored out of her mind. She thinks of away to get Seir's attention off of studying at least for a bit, then she gets an idea.

"Hey Seir, do you think Cress is okay?" she asks.

Seir doesn't answer for a while, then he speaks. "I don't know. Seeing her like that kinda reminded me of something that happened when her and I were younger."

"Really, what was that?"

"I never told you how I became friends with her, did I?" He asks. Althea shakes her head.

"We were both around ten or eleven years old back then. I always got picked on at school for bringing stuffed animals to school. Everyone thought I was weird, too old to be playing with stuffed animals. My dad always tried to get rid of them, in fact he once told me he's embarrassed to call me his son. But stuffed animals were the only friends I had. They don't laugh at me, they don't judge me, they don't push me around..." He closes his eyes and cups his chin in his hands, as if deep in thought.

"I was sitting alone at lunch one day when Crescent walked over to me. She said something I never thought anyone would say to me. 'Can I sit next to you?'. I was so surprised, I didn't know what to say, but I nodded. Then she said 'Cute lion, can I hold him?' and from there, we became really close friends. The other guys didn't like anything about this. They thought she was the cutest girl in school and always tried to get close to her, but she didn't care for them. So they did everything they could to embarrass me in front of her. Wedgies, pulling my pants down, taking my stuffed animals and making me kiss their feet and beg for them back, you name it. Crescent was awesome, though. She always managed to get back at them. I don't know how she did it, but she got three of them tied up naked in the halls one time."

Althea laughs. "Man, I wish I could've seen that!"

"She was always there for me whenever I needed her. One day she told me she had to go home early, and she looked really scared. I asked her if everything's okay, but she wouldn't tell me anything. The next day, she came to school with a hideous scratch and bruise on her face. Whenever I asked her what happened, she wouldn't say anything, and I could see terror in her eyes. I felt so useless. She was always there for me, but when something happened to her, I couldn't do anything. I was never strong enough to protect myself, and I wasn't smart enough to know how to help Crescent when she was hurt and scared. That's when I knew that I have to become a BillPoster. The power to beat the shit out of those who hurt others, while also being able to heal and support those that are already hurt...that's what I want."

"I can understand that. Do you think...something happened to her at home?" Althea asks.

"I can't think of anything else that could have happened. I've never even been to her house before. She always told me that her parents would never let her bring a boy home, even if we're just friends. What about you? You sleep at her place every night. Have you noticed anything, anything at all?"

Althea shakes her head. "No, not really. I'm only over there from eight at night to six in the morning, so I wouldn't know what goes on there in the day. There was one time where her mom gave her a spanking right in front of me though, but that was because she stole money from her wallet. Hard to say she didn't deserve that."

Seir attempts to write something in his study notes, but his hand shakes so much that it becomes a huge scribble, then he drops his pencil. "What..what if something's happening to her right now? While I'm just sitting on my ass studying like the pitiful nerd I am? I'm worthless! I always have been good for nothing!" He slams his fist down on the desk in rage, and Althea can see that there are tears pouring out of his eyes.

"That's not true Seir, you're an amazing person." She says, placing her hand on his shoulder in attempt to comfort him.

He wipes the tears off his face. "Sorry...I have no right to be acting all emo like this. You came from a situation so bad you had to run away from home, but look at how strong you are. I've never seen you break down like this."

"Oh believe me, I have my emo moments too. We all do. I can't wait until I become a Knight...they are so cool. Remember that badass knight that saved us earlier?"

"Yeah. Wonder who the heck he was. I've never seen anyone like him around town before." Seir replies, scratching his chin.

Althea yawns. "Guess we better finish getting this studying out of the way now so we can go to bed."

"Right." Seir says with a smile.

The two of them continue studying for the next few hours. The only thing keeping Althea awake was the delicious pizza, which she ate very carefully because Seir told her they'll stay up studying even longer if she makes a mess. She eventually really dozes off, but quickly pops back up when they hear a loud explosion from outside.

"What the actual fuck was that?!" she asks in shock.

Seir's dad knocks on the door, asking if they're okay, and tries to come in but the doors locked. The two of them peek out the window and gasp when they see huge walls of flames.

"Holy shit! That was Cress's house!" Althea exclaims.

"FUCK! What the hell happened?!" Seir slams his fist on the wall, then they swing the door open and run out of his room so fast that they knock his dad down.

"W-Wait, kids! Don't go out there, we don't know what happened!" His dad picks himself up, then takes off after them.

"Dammit Crescent, please be okay..." Seir whispers to himself as they run outside.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Seir's dad and the firefighters had to hold Seir and Althea down to stop the from rushing in to save Crescent. Her house is already nearly burned down entirely, with the burning chunks that remain slowly dropping to the ground. The whole town had been awaken by the sound of the explosion, and now there's a huge crowd gathered around, watching the firefighters put the flames out. All Seir and Althea could do was cross their fingers and pray for their friend's safety, although they knew that it would take a miracle for her to survive this. They watch in hopeless despair, until one of the firefighter's returns, carrying an unconscious body on his back. Crescent.

"Crescent!" They both exclaim at the sight of her.

"The girl's alive, but the parents are dead! She's unconscious, burnt, and bruised! Get an ambulance, quick!" The firefighter shouts as he makes his way back to the rest of them.

"She's alive...oh thank Rhisis." Seir says with a sigh of relief. Neither him nor Althea could imagine what they would do if Crescent had died tonight.

The ambulance arrived within just a couple of minutes. Seir's dad drove them to the hospital to see their friend, following close behind the ambulance the whole time. When they got there, they were they had to wait in the waiting room for a while before they could see her. Seir and Althea sat in silence, while Seir's dad went outside to get some fresh air. Over an hour passed when he came back inside and sat down next to Seir. The serious expression on his face made him look like an entirely different person than the man Althea had met earlier.

"Hey Seir, mind if we have a father-son talk?" He asks.

"Really, dad? The most important person to me in the whole world almost died, and you think I want to hear your shit now of all times?" Seir replies, coldly.

His dad sighs. "I know we don't always see eye to eye..."

Seir cuts him off before he can continue. "We NEVER see eye to eye."

"True enough." His dad replies, scratching his head with a fake smile on his face. "I just wanted to let you know that hearing that explosion, and seeing that fire...it really opened up my eyes. Reminded me of when I lost your mother." He says. Seir's mother had died in a burning building when he was just three years old.

As Althea listens to Seir's dad speak, she starts to feel a little awkward, as if she's sitting in on their private moment. "Uh, I gotta go to the bathroom real quick." She says and gets up, but Seir shoots her a look that implies 'Don't leave me alone with this guy!', so she sits back down, whistling.

"What happened tonight really made me think. If Crescent had died in that fire, and if you didn't have your, ahem, 'study partner' here." He glances at Althea. "And if I were really to sell your stuffed animals...you wouldn't have anybody left but your foolish old man."

"Shade, please take my soul to hell before that happens..." Seir whispers, staring at the floor.

"I try not to make excuses for myself, but it was hard being a single father after losing your mom. I guess the despair the loss I, no, we went through had some really negative effects on me. Of course, that's no excuse for me saying I'm embarrassed to call you my son." His dad continues, nearly choking out the last part.

Seir looks his dad in the eye, then quickly stares back at the floor.

"I never forgot the day I said that. I've been ashamed of myself ever since. I try to make up for it by acting so playful and making so many jokes with you, but you reject me every time, and I don't blame you. I was never even man enough to apologize, so I'll correct myself on that now." He places his hand on Seir's shoulder, and Seir looks him in the eye, clearly holding back tears.

"Seir, I-I'm so sorry I would say something that awful to you. I'm PROUD to call you my son. And I promise, I will never even think of selling your stu-, I mean your friends, again. I can always work a little harder to help pay the bills." He opens his arms up as if expecting Seir to hug him, but Seir just stares at him. An expression of deep sorrow forms on his dad's face, and he starts to put his arms back to his sides, but Seir suddenly embraces him tightly and buries his head in his dad's shoulder.

"I-I'm s-sorry too, dad..." He cries.

"What do you have to be sorry for, son?" His dad asks, rubbing his back.

"I shouldn't have always been so uptight with you, I should have learned to lighten up. You were just trying to get along with me, but I chose to be dark and cold."

Althea smiles as she watches their father-son bonding, then the door to Crescent's hospital room opens, and the nurse comes out.

"The patient has awaken, you're free to see her now."

Inside the hospital room, Crescent was sitting up in bed, wearing a hospital gown. She had bandages on her face and arms, and burn marks were evident on her skin. She stared expressionlessly at the palms of her hands, her eyes widened and her teeth clattering.

"Crescent!"

Her friends both embraced her at the same time. She gasped at their touch, but calmed down a little when she saw them.

"Why did it come to this...?" She asked, more to herself than to them.

"Crescent...what happened?" Seir asked, placing his hands in hers and looking her in the eye.

"I...I don't want to talk about it..." She pulled her hands away from his and wrapped her arms around herself, looking away.

"But Cress...aren't we your friends?" Althea asked, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I know it was horrible, but please, Crescent, you can tell us anything. That's what friends are for." Seir placed his hand on her other shoulder.

Crescent took deep breaths before speaking, "Okay...I went home and got scolded by my parents. They found the drawing that I forgot to take to school with me, and got all pissy over it. My family are Shade worshippers, so they didn't exactly condone what I was drawing. So yeah, they grounded me for a month, told me I can never draw again, and beat me with a stick. Just ten minutes later, the house was on fire. Now my parents are dead."

Seir and Althea weren't sure what they expected to hear, but this was quite a lot to take in.

"Dear god...I'm so sorry, Crescent." Seir said.

"But how did your house burn down?" Althea asked.

"Right before it happened, I heard my front door shut, but my parents were both upstairs, so I peeked out the window and saw a few people dressed in black. Then the house just burst into flames, I don't know who they were, or why they did it, okay? It just happened."

She looked both her friends in the eye, as if challenging them to question her validity. Of course, neither of them did.

"Now you know, what happens now? Still want to be friends with the evil Shade worshipper?"

"Don't be silly, why would anything change between us? You're the same Crescent I've known for five years!"

"You didn't know I worshipped Shade..."

"Still the same Crescent."

"As for what happens next..." Althea said, "We find those dark guys and kick their butts! Show them that no one messes with team CSA!"

Crescent looked up at her friends in shock, then smiled. "Thanks guys...you really are something else."

Crescent was allowed out the hospital two days later. Since she no longer had a home, she was staying at Seir's place for now (much to his father's amusement), just until they graduate from Vagrant school. Once they graduate, the three of them planned on traveling the world of Madrigal together, while hunting Giant's to save up for their Guild House. When Crescent's house burned down, all of her homework and study notes were destroyed, so she had to study extra hard, but was able to get back on track with Seir's help.

"So today's the big day..." Althea said, as her, Crescent, and Seir walked to school together. Two long weeks had finally passed, and now it was time to graduate. That is, if they pass their tests.

"Let's do this!" Seir said, slamming his fist against his palm.

"Let's do this!" Althea and Crescent also exclaimed, raising their fists in the air.

In their homeroom classroom, there was four special teachers today. First was a woman with long, thick green hair, topped with a navy blue magician hat. She was dressed in a tight fitting, blue trench coat with a red collar, golden edges, and a golden button, along with red gloves and a black choker. She had a big smile on her face, marching in place while twirling a wand around.

Next was a very short man with the appearance of a young boy. He had wild, short blonde hair and was dressed in a short, unzipped, sleeveless hiking jacket. He wore brown gloves and had a dog tag around his neck. Third was a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in knight armor. Her facial expression was hard and serious. Fourth was another woman, with sky blue hair and orange eyes. She had a snowflake-patterned hairband in her hair, and wore a thick, blue and white coat.

"Rhisis bless you all, I'm Asis, the Assist teacher. If you would like to be an Assist, please step forward." said the blue-haired woman.

Students quickly rose from their seats and formed a line in front of her. Seir was quick to get in line, not wanting to wait behind everyone else. Once Asis had everyone who wanted to be an Assist's name down, she lead them to a separate room, where they would take the written portion of their exam.

"See you girls later." Seir waved to his friends as he left with the rest of his group.

The short one stood on the teacher's table and shouted to get everyone's attention.

"Move like lightning! Strike like thunder! We are the Acrobats! Follow me, Thunder, and become one of us!"

Another line was formed in front of him, though it was a much smaller line than the previous one. It's believed that Acrobat's are the weakest of all first Class's, but their second Class versions, Jesters and Rangers, are nothing to scoff at. Once the Acrobat line was lead to another classroom, the green-haired woman spoke.

"With the elements blessed to us by the creators; lightning, wind, fire, water, and earth, we can save this world! Or even destroy it..."

"Masics, don't suggest such absurd things." said the blonde woman next to her.

Masics pouted, "Don't ruin my fun, Zandark! You'll get your turn." she then focused back on the students. She waved her wand around a bit, then a ball of fire shot out of it, causing some of the students to duck their heads in panic, but it was quickly put out by a stream of water.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is magic. Come with me, and you'll soon be able to do great things like this too!"

The line she got was the biggest of all so far. Crescent made sure to be the first one in line. This line was so long it took over ten minutes to get everyone's name down.

"Good luck, Althea." Crescent said with a wave as she was led away with the rest of her group.

Now all that was left was the Mercenary teacher, Zandark, so everyone left in this classroom intended to be a Mercenary.

"We are the brave Mercenaries of war! We fight on the front lines, sacrificing our lives for Rhisis! Honor, courage, and strength! If you lack any of these three traits, then please leave right now." Zandark waited for a short moment, but no one left. "Then come, step forward!"

Unfortunately, Althea didn't get to be in the front of the line, but she wasn't too far in the back either. This line was the second longest out of all four, so she'd be waiting for a few minutes.

"Hey, aren't you that one dumb girl?" asked a female voice from behind.

Althea spun around to see a girl with short black hair and red eyes staring at her with crossed arms. Althea had never seen her before, which only made her all the more made that this girl would say such a thing about her.

"Huh? I'm not dumb! Who are you to make a statement like that?!"

"Really? I heard you got 37% on a history test, and had the nerve to talk back to a teacher."

Althea's face went red with both anger and embarrassment. "S-So what? That doesn't matter, today I'm going to become a Mercenary and soon go on to become a powerful Knight!"

"Why would anyone actually want to be something as useless as a Knight?"

This statement pained Althea, "Useless? Knights can endure more pain than any other class, and they hit the hardest!"

"They also hit the slowest. In fact they hit so slow that a Blade can easily deal far more damage per second. All a Knight is good for is getting beat up while Blade's kill the prey."

"That's not true! Besides, who would want to be a stupid Blade anyway? They're so arrogant, carrying around two weapons like dual wielding makes them better than everyone. It just makes them look dumb."

"HEY! You're holding up the line!", Zandark shouted. "Do you want to be a Mercenary or not?"

Althea hadn't even noticed it was her turn to sign her name. "O-Oh, right..." She signed her name down, and Zandark handed her the test booklet.

Once everyone had their tests, Zandark said they have an hour to finish. Althea wasn't the best test taker in the world, but she was filling confident because she had been studying with Seir and Crescent for the past two weeks. She felt confident with most of her answers, but there were several questions that stumped her, leaving her to give her best guess.

Althea had just finished answering the final question when the bell rang. Zandark stood and told everyone to to give her their tests, then take a thirty minute break while she checks their answers.

"Althea, over here." Seir waved to her in the hallway.

"How do you guys think you did?" she asked, catching up with them.

"I'm certain we did just fine. It's you we should be worried about." said Crescent.

"W-What?! There's no need to worry about me, we've all been studying together! If I fail, then that means you two suck as study partners!"

"She's right, there's no need to worry. We'll all be fine." Seir said, "Now, the question is: what should we do while we wait?"

"Get some food, duh!" Althea replied.

"Think we have time to get something from the Laleen Food Court? Losha did promise us free lunch everyday." Crescent said.

"As long as there isn't a huge line, we should be fine." Seir said.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Althea grabbed Seir and Crescent's hands and raced out the school with them.

The food court had a surprisingly long line, considering the hour. They figured this line was going to take too long, so they turned to leave, but Loyah saw them and called them over, letting them skip the line. The other customers didn't seem too pleased with this.

"Welcome again, my favorite customers! How's the giant hunting coming along?"

"We haven't done a lot of hunting lately. We've been on hold because we had to study for the graduation test." Crescent said.

"Oh, that's right, you told me that before."

"After today, we'll be back in action though! We're gonna ace the test and finally become a Class!" Althea exclaimed.

"That's great! Have you guys heard of the Soldiers of Kion?" Loyah asked.

"Nope, never heard of them. Why? Who are they?"

"Well, you see, you guys have become quite popular here, after you saved my sister."

"Really? I didn't even notice." Seir said.

"So, this group called the Soldiers of Kion heard about you. Basically, when people complain to the Mayor about problems, he has the Soldiers of Kion do the dirty work. They're not the most reputable bunch though, as they tend to fail their missions. A lot." Loyah paused to see if they were following her, then continued, "So, they're looking for more power, and after hearing about you guys, they want you to join them."

"I'm not so sure about that..." Crescent said, "We're our own guild and want to keep it just the three of us. We would never join some other group."

"B-But they get paid by the Mayor!" protested Althea.

"We could help them without a task or two, but not actually join their group. As Crescent said, we're a guild of three, we won't join another group. Especially one with a low reputation." Seir said, "We'll think it over. Where can we find these guys?"

"Oh, their meet up spot is just west of here. You can find them between 4 p.m and 8 p.m. Don't worry, you can't miss them. They make quite a lot of noise." Loyah said, "Now, what would you guys like to eat? I think everyone behind you is tired of waiting."

They decided to order their food to go and take it back to the cafeteria. That way, if they got too distracted, they wouldn't have to rush back to school at the last minute. While they ate, they discussed what they would do after becoming a Class.

"We'll definitely be strong enough to have a round two with the giant Lawolf!" Althea said, confidently, though her friends didn't quite seem to agree with her.

"Nah, we'll still have miles to go before we can defeat something that powerful." Seir said.

"Do you really think we should associate ourselves with those Soldiers of Kion people?" Crescent asked.

"Why not? We'd get paid by the Mayor! He's got tons of penya!" Althea said.

"Like I said, we can help them with a job or two and see how it goes, but we won't actually join them." replied Seir, between bites of his food.

"More importantly, since we're going to be traveling, should we buy camping supplies?" Crescent said, after taking a sip from her drink.

"Eh, camping supplies? But Flaris is such a small continent...there isn't enough to explore where we'd need to camp out." Althea said, after swallowing a big bite of food.

"Except we're on our own starting today." Seir said, "I'm moving out of my dad's place today, remember? We're gonna live off our giant hunting from now on. We'll probably be sleeping in tents and sleeping bags until we can afford the Guild House."

"Right...I'm gonna miss sleeping on your couch." Althea sighed sadly.

Crescent looked up at the clock. "It's been 23 minutes already...we should head back now."

So the three of them headed back to class together, eager, and slightly nervous, about finding out their test scores. Surely they all passed, right? And what would be the next part of the test?


End file.
